Virtu Financial LLC Buys 2,498 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Virtu Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 116.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,644 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,498 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $1,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LIN. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in shares of Linde by 712.2% during the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 8,642 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,618,000 after purchasing an additional 7,578 shares in the last quarter. Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. now owns 69,400 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $29,056,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in shares of Linde by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 48,144 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $20,156,000 after buying an additional 2,722 shares during the period. Finally, Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 5,577 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,335,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

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Linde Price Performance

Shares of Linde stock traded up $3.30 on Thursday, hitting $464.73. 1,492,815 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,726,069. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $410.69 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $219.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $454.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $454.24.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen raised Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Linde Company Profile

Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South Pacific. It offers atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases; and process gases, such as carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene.